Talk Wisdom's goal is to defend the tenets and values of Biblical Christian faith. We defend our Constitutional Republic and Charters of Freedom, especially when speaking out against destructive social and political issues. As followers of our Savior and Lord, we should boldly stand up for Jesus Christ in our present circumstances. He is our Savior, Lord, and King, and His love needs to be shed abroad in our hearts and in our world – now.

Archive for the ‘Dr. David Jeremiah’ Category

I’m reminded of that old metaphorical statement “praise the Lord and pass the ammunition.” We have to do both—pray and act. We have to pray like crazy for God to intervene in this country and break us. Incidentally, I also think if we’re going to see a spiritual change in this country, I believe it will happen through our young people.

I was with a bunch of young people yesterday and I was reminding them that all of the Great Awakenings, including the beginning of the modern mission movement, started among young people. One girl said, “I told God the answer is ‘yes.’ I don’t even know what the questions are, but whatever You want me to do, the answer is ‘yes.’” So I believe we need to pray with all of our hearts that God will do a work in our churches and especially in our youth. And while we’re all doing that, we don’t want to sit on our hands and not do the other things that we can do, such as vote, and try to have an informed vote based upon the issues that we know will really matter. So we have to praise the Lord and pass the ammunition.

– Dr. David Jeremiah in BGEA Decision Magazine’s 2016 Electoral Guide

Readers may recall that in my former post entitled, Stuck In The Middle With You I had encouraged voters to order the free Decision magazine issue that presents 2016 Election information when considering our choice this November regarding, “Two Visions, Two Americas.”

If you didn’t order the magazine yet, the good news is that the Electoral guide with complete articles are now online!

This morning, I finally finished reading all of the articles. They are very informative and I think they will help readers make the best decisions regarding this upcoming election.

I suggest reading all of the articles at Billy Graham’s website. Each reader can decide which article to read first. I chose to read The Party Platforms and then the Where The Candidates Stand report. As I saw the striking differences between the Democratic vs. Republican platforms, I thought to myself that as a Christian first, wife, mother and grandmother second, Conservative third, and registered Republican last, that if I were in a swing state I would vote for Donald Trump for President. Why? Because it would be a vote against crooked HiLIARy!

The stark differences between these two candidates (especially the egregious corruption in the Democrat party that has been revealed by Wikileaks each day) makes me a Never Hillaryvoter. The criminal activity that she has been involved in (especially Benghazi), the mountain of lies she has piled up over the years, the legitimate concern about her obviously failing health (and the huge cover-up about this), and the media- of-mass-deception that is doing all that they can to avoid reporting her crimes (while so obviously backing her campaign), places an absolute conclusion in my mind that she should NEVER become president!

Being in the state of California in which the electoral college hasn’t given a victory to a Republican since Ronald Reagan in the ’80s tells me that even if I were to vote for Trump here, technically it wouldn’t really count anyway. However, would I be neglecting my Christian duty to leave my ballot choice for president blank?

Dr. David Jeremiah’s question and answer portion in the magazine was very informative; as were so many of the other articles so please take the time to read it all. I especially took to heart these portions:

Q: How should a Christian voter prioritize the issues?

A:One of the most important questions going forward is, will our people be able to live their lives and worship God in freedom, or will the Supreme Court and its decisions continue to squeeze evangelicals, so that we are forced to violate the law or violate our conscience toward God? I think that’s the biggest issue—whether we can live and worship the Lord and live according to the dictates of our conscience, or get forced into a corner of political correctness and have to make a decision of whether to go to jail or follow our faith.

Q: Living in California as you do, you’ve seen firsthand a lot of the social progressivism before the rest of the country has experienced it. What do you foresee for Gospel-minded Christians in the next four to eight years?

A: There’s both good and bad. The church has always flourished when it was under pressure. Prosperity has never been good for the church. Adversity has consistently been good for the church. The New Testament was written in a time when Rome was running rampant over Christianity and you knew who the real Christians were. They stood up and were counted. I think one of two things is going to happen: Either we’re going to see a revival of some sort, and with that a renewal of the principles upon which this country was built, or we’re going to fall into a time of great pressure on Christians.

I think this current election may have a great deal to do with which direction that goes. And I believe that apart from a spiritual renewal, a Great Awakening like the ones we’ve had in the past—during which we would return to our roots spiritually—what we’re going to face is more and more the church under the pressure of the government, more and more being pressured to conduct weddings that we will never conduct, more and more being told to say things that we can’t say.

I don’t think that means we should be discouraged as believers. The Gospel has never been more necessary than it is now. All of these things that we talk about don’t in any way impact the fact that Jesus Christ is still the answer and that salvation is still the main business of the church.

That excerpt is sobering, but now that I have delved into the entire chapter, the evil and depravity that is going on in the world today is so very discouraging, damaging and frightening!

I truly am saddened that the country that I grew up in from the mid-nineteen fifties through graduating college in 1977 has disappeared and been replaced with the “normalization” of the most egregious sinful secular-leftist and atheistic (even devil-worshipping!) kinds of immorality and death-cult beliefs that it is absolutely astonishing!

There was a time when Christian parents could shield their children from all of this, but no more. The so-called “smartphones” that adults and children hold in their hands today are just a click away from pornography websites.

Excerpt from Chapter One:

Depravity in Our Minds

In January 2016, the Internet’s largest online pornography site released its annual statistics. On just this one website in just one year – 2015 – consumers watched 4,392,486,580 hours of pornography. Convert those hours into years, and it means those people collectively spent more than 500,000 years watching porn.

On this particular site in 2015 alone, people watched 87,849,731, 608 X-rated videos. Over 87 billion! That’s twelve videos for every man, woman, boy and girl on the planet.

The rate at which sexual depravity is being “normalized” is causing havoc upon many freedoms that Christians have enjoyed in the past. Now, deeply held religious beliefs, freedom of speech, freedom to practice our faith in the public domain, freedom of association to reject the immoral cesspool around us, and most of all, the freedom to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ is actively being punished by “the powers that be” in government! This scenario is especially egregious in the liberal courts dominated by anti-Christian “judges” who decide to allow sexual immoralities described in God’s Word to trump the First Amendment rights of Christian believers.

I could go on and on…but most readers get the picture.

The saving grace in all of this is the fact that Christians know Who wins and triumphs at the end of days. There will come a time when God’s mercy and grace will run out and the judgments will fall upon those who rejected God’s provision for salvation – the Cross of Jesus Christ!

This is probably the biggest reason why this blog exists. To warn people about the schemes of Satan that are there to grab our minds, entice our flesh, and spiral us down into the cesspool of depravity through active sin; in order to keep our minds, hearts, bodies, souls and spirits away from God.

God the Father, who loves us so deeply that He sent His One and Only Son, Jesus Christ, to die on the cross in our place and free us once and for all from the penalty that we all deserve for our rebellion and sin; gives us the kind of hope that can never be achieved on our own.

What will YOU do (and decide about God’s provision through Jesus Christ) on this side of eternity?

Dr. Jeremiah masterfully shares the truth that for many people, their source of hope is sadly misplaced. He states that “the question you must address is not whether America and the world will regain their footing, but how you will respond whether they do or not.”

“That is what this book is all about!”

Dr. Jeremiah explains the four common responses to the growing fears about the future. Three are wrong, and one is right.

Wrong:

Denial – Living in the illusion that nothing will change, refusing to heed the clouds gathering on the horizon.

Despair – Collapse is inevitable, all is hopeless, nothing can be done and we are doomed.

“Eat, drink, and be merry.” As Solomon (see Ecclesiastes 8:15) warned us, all the pleasure we can get because there is “nothing new under the sun” is not productive. It doesn’t give us hope. In fact, it is “all vanity and grasping after the wind.” (see Ecclesiastes 1:14).

Ecc 1:14

I have seen all the works that are done under the sun; and indeed, all is vanity and grasping for the wind.

Right:

The one right response is to look beyond the gathering storm to the one solid and certain source of hope–to God Himself. Hope in the future of America and the stability of the world is little more than wishful thinking. It is not reliable. The hope God offers is the only realistic, absolute hope that carries the promise of a certain outcome.

The next three paragraphs in the Introduction are very powerful!

We do not know whether America will soon fall. We do not know when the Lord will return. But we do know that whatever our circumstances, God’s desire for us is to live without anxiety and with hope. He offers you “thoughts of peace and not of evil.” and He wants “to give you a future and a hope” (Jeremiah 29:11).

In this book I will show you how to find that hope. It is a hope that is not dependent on whether America falls or recovers or whether world order stabilizes or disintegrates. It is a hope that rises above trouble and chaos, enabling you to keep your focus on your future reward and endure whatever comes, whether good or evil, with grace and equanimity.

The added benefit of this hope is that those who exercise it before others set an example that may just make a difference in the outcome. Enough Christians exhibiting faith in God just might be the salt that saves America.

In yesterday’s television broadcast, Dr. David Jeremiah shares how Bible prophecy and the Scriptures tell us that the closer we get to the end times, the more our nation and world becomes like “the days of Noah.”

The book of Romans 1 is shared in the video segment, and it is with good reason. When we look at today’s level of acceptance of that which the Bible calls evil and sinful, we see how far down the morality sewer millions of people have fallen.

Paul isn’t ashamed to preach the Gospel of Christ. He isn’t worried about offending anyone with the truth about exposing the “ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness…”

Paul goes on to reveal how God has CLEARLY shown man His invisible attributes, and thus they are without excuse.

Read Romans 1:21 – 1:32. You will see how man’s “foolish hearts became darkened,” and “professing to be wise, they become fools.” They “exchanged the truth of God for a lie” and due to their rejection of God, they were “given up to vile passions.”

III. The judgments of God upon them for this idolatry; not many temporal judgments (the idolatrous nations were the conquering ruling nations of the world), but spiritual judgments, giving them up to the most brutish and unnatural lusts. Paredoµken autous–He gave themup; it is thrice repeated here, v. 24, 26, 28. Spiritual judgments are of all judgments the sorest, and to be most dreaded. Observe,

1. By whom they were given up. God gave them up, in a way of righteous judgment, as the just punishment of their idolatry-taking off the bridle of restraining grace-leaving them to themselves-letting them alone; for his grace is his own, he is debtor to no man, he may give or withhold his grace at pleasure. Whether this giving up be a positive act of God or only privative we leave to the schools to dispute: but this we are sure of that it is no new thing for God to give men up to their own hearts’ lusts, to send them strong delusions, to let Satan loose upon them, nay, to lay stumbling-blocks before them. And yet God is not the author of sin, but herein infinitely just and holy; for, though the greatest wickedness follow upon this giving up, the fault of that is to be laid upon the sinner’s wicked heart. If the patient be obstinate, and will not submit to the methods prescribed, but wilfully takes and does that which is prejudicial to him, the physician is not to be blamed if he give him up as in a desperate condition; and all the fatal symptoms that follow are not to be imputed to the physician, but to the disease itself and to the folly and wilfulness of the patient.

In today’s world of political correctness, citing such passages in the Bible is misapplied and labeled as “hate speech.” This particular meme has worked so well that we are now at the point where all attempts at silencing Christian preachers and apologists are at an all-time high!

At the beginning of the epistle, Paul has the answer.

Rom 1:15

So, as much as is in me, I am ready to preach the gospel to you who are in Rome also.

Rom 1:16

For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ,[fn] for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek.

Rom 1:17

For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “The just shall live by faith.”[fn]

No matter what the evildoers, sinners, debased, and unrepentant say about us, Paul reveals that as “bondservants of Jesus Christ,” it is worth it to endure their lies against us:

Rom 1:1

Paul, a bondservant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated to the gospel of God

Rom 1:2

which He promised before through His prophets in the Holy Scriptures,

Rom 1:3

concerning His Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who was born of the seed of David according to the flesh,

Rom 1:4

and declared to be the Son of God with power according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead.

Rom 1:5

Through Him we have received grace and apostleship for obedience to the faith among all nations for His name,

Never have the headlines been this jarring, the cultural changes this rapid, the moral decay this pronounced. What on earth is happening? After each new occurrence the most oft-heard questions are , “Will the world ever be the same again?” and “Where is God in all of this?”

Many Christian believers ask that first question. In fact, I often think about that very question every day! With over 25 years of Bible study, I instinctively know the answer to that question. But what about that second question? I used to ask that question 25 years ago. However, believers who are diligently reading, studying, and applying the Word of God in our lives, can understand the more difficult second question. “Where is God in all of this?” As believers, we have the answer:

And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.

Studying prophecy helps tremendously in recognizing that the closer we get to the end times, the more likely it will be that the world will not ever be the same again…until Christ returns.

Then, the world at the time of the Millennium will be MUCH BETTER! [Note: A broader discussion of this will be forthcoming as in the coming weeks and months, I share the content of the book at this blog.]

Those who have not studied the Bible are very likely to ask, “Where is God in all of this?”

This new book could be a great resource to help people understand what is coming and what is absolutely needed for eternal salvation.

Those of us who are Christians are to help people understand. It is extremely important to know God’s Word in order to be able to “rightly divide the word of truth.”

2Ti 2:15

Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

Yesterday, I pre-ordered the new book written by Dr. David Jeremiah entitled: “People Are Asking…Is This The End? Sign’s of God’s Providence in a Disturbing New World.”

The book is set for release on October 4, 2016. I’m looking forward to reading it and using it as a resource when sharing the Bible and the Gospel of Jesus Christ!

There are previews of each chapter at DavidJeremiah.org. Here is the title of the first chapter and a copy of the preview provided there:

Overview of Chapter 1 The Age of Anything Goes

Ours is an age of decadence, self-delusion, and depravity of every variety—and each time we think things can’t possibly get worse, they do. The shameful acts of yesterday are the celebrated triumphs of today. Perversions are normalized, purity is labeled puritanical, and the only act that cannot be tolerated is dissent from this brave new world where pleasure is king.

Scripture tells us that the road that leads to life is narrow, while the path that leads to destruction is wide. A glance around our culture today and one would be forgiven for thinking that the words found in Matthew’s Gospel are an understatement.

Scripture tells us that the road that leads to life is narrow, while the path that leads to destruction is wide. A glance around our culture today and one would be forgiven for thinking that the words found in Matthew’s Gospel are an understatement. Not only are many people walking down that wide path, they are holding a parade for themselves as they do, celebrating their sins as they march blissfully toward a judgment they don’t believe is coming. In the other direction, the narrow way seems overgrown with weeds from disuse.

As Christians, we should not be surprised at the depths to which humanity seems content to sink. Scripture speaks clearly of humankind’s propensity to sin and God’s holy intolerance of it.

From the days of Noah to the days of the Roman Empire and beyond, people have been lovers of pleasure, inventors of evil, and happy to believe anything our itching ears want to hear. Beneath the constant barrage of the media telling us that anything goes, even Christians are tempted by the wide path. We’re being worn down and written off, and it seems easier to go along in order to get along.

How did things get so bad? Is there anything we can do to stem the tide? And what is God’s next move?

The Age of Anything Goes explores just how our culture made the leap from one founded on Judeo-Christian principles to one that persecutes those who hold to those values. What you read here may shock you. But without a clear picture of where we’ve been and where we are, we cannot truly grasp God’s marvelous grace, nor His plan for our future.

2 Timothy also informs us that certain individuals will not listen to what we share. Therefore, stay away from ignorant disputes. However, we should at least try first to, “be gentle to all, able to teach, patient in humility correcting those who are in opposition.”

2Ti 2:23

But avoid foolish and ignorant disputes, knowing that they generate strife.

2Ti 2:24

And a servant of the Lord must not quarrel but be gentle to all, able to teach, patient

2Ti 2:25

in humility correcting those who are in opposition, if God perhaps will grant them repentance, so that they may know the truth,

2Ti 2:26

and that they may come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil, having been taken captive by him to do his will.

When I come across skeptics, (seekers and/or outright deniers of Jesus Christ included) they often cite humanistic reasons for not being able to believe in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. They use the same humanistic “wisdom” (minus the Wisdom of God in the Scriptures) to claim that any and all of their “reasons” for unbelief are valid. For them, the following verse either offers confusion or an excuse for their unbelief:

Heb 11:1

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

Matthew Henry’s commentary explains:

1. It is thesubstance of things hoped for. Faith and hope go together; and the same things that are the object of our hope are the object of our faith. It is a firm persuasion and expectation that God will perform all that he has promised to us in Christ; and this persuasion is so strong that it gives the soul a kind of possession and present fruition of those things, gives them a subsistence in the soul, by the first-fruits and foretastes of them: so that believers in the exercise of faith are filledwith joy unspeakable and full of glory. Christ dwells in the soul by faith, and the soul is filled with the fullness of God, as far as his present measure will admit; he experiences a substantial reality in the objects of faith.

2. It is the evidence of things not seen. Faith demonstrates to the eye of the mind the reality of those things that cannot be discerned by the eye of the body. Faith is the firm assent of the soul to the divine revelation and every part of it, and sets to its seal that God is true. It is a full approbation of all that God has revealed as holy, just, and good; it helps the soul to make application of all to itself with suitable affections and endeavours; and so it is designed to serve the believer instead of sight, and to be to the soul all that the senses are to the body. That faith is but opinion or fancy which does not realize invisible things to the soul, and excite the soul to act agreeably to the nature and importance of them.

Christians would inevitably nod their heads in agreement with what Henry wrote in his commentary. On the other hand, it is likely that nonbelievers might have the tendency to deem what he has written as “opinion or fancy.”

Why?

Because he or she cannot (or refuses to learn) “the invisible things to the soul, and excite the soul to act agreeably to the nature and importance of them.”

Rejection of the Gospel truth in the Bible is often likely because of ignorance about the Scriptures and the Person in whom the Scriptures point to as Savior and Lord – Jesus Christ. But what about those who claim to have studied Scripture and yet do not believe? Henry explained quite well why they might reach such a conclusion.

Another way of putting it is the fact that no Christian can MAKE someone believe in Jesus Christ. All we are to do is to point the way towards the truth of the Gospel. The knocking on the door of the heart of the hearer of the gospel message is done by the Holy Spirit, who was sent by Jesus Christ to indwell believers.

Heb 11:2

For by it the elders obtained a good testimony.

Henry writes:

II. An account of the honour it reflects upon all those who have lived in the exercise of it (v. 2): By it the elders obtained a good report-the ancient believers, who lived in the first ages of the world. Observe,

1. True faith is an old grace, and has the best plea to antiquity: it is not a new invention, a modern fancy; it is a grace that has been planted in the soul of man ever since the covenant of grace was published in the world; and it has been practiced from the beginning of the revelation; the eldest and best men that ever were in the world were believers.

2. Their faith was their honour; it reflected honour upon them. They were an honour to their faith, and their faith was an honour to them. It put them upon doing the things that were of good report, and God has taken care that a record shall be kept and report made of the excellent things they did in the strength of this grace. The genuine actings of faith will bear to be reported, deserve to be reported, and will, when reported, redound to the honour of true believers.

Notice how Henry includes the word “true” when he describes believers. This brings to mind the need to avoid those who have fallen into, ( and in today’s era, unfortunately preach), the heretic and apostate beliefs as described in this Syncretism Stew post.

The book of Jude provides the warnings and signs about those who have “crept in unnoticed” and, “who long ago were marked out for this condemnation, ungodly men, who turn the grace of our God into lewdness and deny the only Lord God[fn] and our Lord Jesus Christ.”

[fn] (1:4)

NU-Text omits God.

Heb 11:3

By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible.

Henry writes:

III. We have here one of the first acts and articles of faith, which has a great influence on all the rest, and which is common to all believers in every age and part of the world, namely, the creation of the worlds by the word of God, not out of pre-existent matter, but out of nothing, v. 3. The grace of faith has a retrospect as well as prospect; it looks not only forward to the end of the world, but back to the beginning of the world. By faith we understand much more of the formation of the world than ever could be understood by the naked eye of natural reason. Faith is not a force upon the understanding, but a friend and a help to it. Now what does faith give us to understand concerning the worlds, that is, the upper, middle, and lower regions of the universe?

1. That these worlds were not eternal, nor did they produce themselves, but they were made by another.

2. That the maker of the worlds is God; he is the maker of all things; and whoever is so must be God.

3. That he made the world with great exactness; it was a framed work, in every thing duly adapted and disposed to answer its end, and to express the perfections of the Creator.

4. That God made the world by his word, that is, by his essential wisdom and eternal Son, and by his active will, saying, Let it be done, and it was done,Ps. 33:9.

5. That the world was thus framed out of nothing, out of no pre-existent matter, contrary to the received maxim, that “out of nothing, nothing can be made,’ which, though true of created power, can have no place with God, who can call things that are not as if they were, and command them into being. These things we understand by faith. The Bible gives us the truest and most exact account of the origin of all things, and we are to believe it, and not to wrest or run down the scripture-account of the creation, because it does not suit with some fantastic hypotheses of our own, which has been in some learned but conceited men the first remarkable step towards infidelity, and has led them into many more.

When I get into conversations with friends, family, and even some acquaintances, I find that people are highly disturbed about the wrong direction that our nation is heading! The down-ward spiral of lawlessness, moral deviancy, murder, lies, sin, darkness, sadness, and desperate madness is certainly greatly alarming! We see people here in America and many countries around the world in a state of being in fear, having no genuine faith, no hope, no grace, and no light to show them the way to God!

Where do we need to go?

Answer: God’s Word – the Bible!

For me, the book of John pointed towards my Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ and the need to be born again. Through confession and repentance of my sin at the foot of the Cross, I can then ask for forgiveness. In faith, through Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit came (as he promised – the Helper) to indwell my heart. Through studying the Bible with the guidance of the Holy Spirit, the Scriptures came alive for me; leading me to the truth.

What’s more, the study of Bible prophecy both in the Old and New Testaments further reveals the truth of God’s Word and cements my decision to forever believe in and follow Jesus Christ! I pray, dear reader, that you will do the same!

There are (unfortunately) Christian churches that have made the decision to not study end times Bible prophecy. The reasons? Might it have something to do with not “scaring” people away? Or, the perception of some pastors that it’s just “too difficult” for laypersons in the church to read, study, and learn? I’m sure there could be dozens of reasons, but my suggestion is to find another pastor who will share this vital biblical information with you!

Interesting enough, the Got Questions link above says the following about Daniel’s prophecy:

Many scholars have contrasted Nebuchadnezzar’s dream in Daniel 2 with Daniel’s vision in chapter 7. Both passages reveal the coming world kingdoms, but the symbolism is strikingly different in each. The pagan king sees the kingdoms of this world as a towering work of art, impressive in size, value, and grandeur (albeit with feet of clay). God’s prophet sees the same kingdoms as bizarre, unnatural beasts, terrifying in aspect and behavior. It’s a difference of perspective: where man sees a stately, glittering tribute to himself, God sees a menagerie of aberrations. “Let us not be desirous of vain glory” (Galatians 5:26, KJV).

See this interactive study on Daniel 7 in order to understand the vision of the four beasts that are also described in the book of Revelation!

Speaking of Christ’s coming kingdom:

His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and His kingdom the one which shall not be destroyed.

I really love the fact that being a viewer and supporter of Dr. David Jeremiah’s Turning Point Ministry enables me to get information on upcoming events via mail, even before it appears on the website!

Since there is no description about this new upcoming series (which will begin on Easter Sunday, April 5, 2015) I would like to share a few portions of the letter that I received from Dr. Jeremiah’s ministry:

Dear Christine,

[Many] times, over the years, we have found ourselves in the position of criticizing Hollywood for its immoral and spiritually destructive television content. So when a faith-based production comes to us and requests our help to present the biblical foundation to their programming, I believe it to be a door opened by God. this is a rare exception that was presented to us. A.D.will dramatize the amazing story of the Book of Acts on prime time Sunday evenings –after Turning Point teaches “The Scripture behind the story” each Sunday morning! My teaching series will be A.D. The Revolution That Changed the World.

God has positioned us for “such a time as this” (Esther 4:14) through your faithful prayers and great generosity. With the broad radio and television coverage that your support has made possible, we have become a trusted source for biblical truth. Mark Burnett and Roma Downey, the producers of the NBC series — the same team that produced the acclaimed documentary The Bible — actually came to us with this coordination strategy in mind. I said “yes” by faith, because I recognized immediately the tremendous potential for reaching far more souls than ever before through this unusual partnership. I thank God for the privilege of ministering in this unique new way, and I thank you for having helped to set the stage for it.

This is a groundbreaking opportunity: In more than three decades of ministry we have never had the opportunity to release a 12-week television teaching series concurrently with a major television network Bible series! Each Sunday we will share the life-changing power of God’s Word with millions of people who will view the same portion from the Book of Acts dramatized that evening on NBC. The potential ministry impact is enormous.

This A.D. series is ideal for inviting the lost or gathering a small group or class to watch the programs together and make use of the study resources. It is also a great time for you to share Turning Point with your friends.

[Thank] you so much for being my friend and my fellow laborer in the work of the Lord.

God bless you,

David Jeremiah

I would like to prayerfully request that readers here consider a donation [ANY AMOUNT WOULD HELP!] to the Turning Point Ministry which will help fund this effort. The general website is David Jeremiah.org. Please check out the site and watch the current broadcasts. I think that you will find this particular television and radio ministry as authentic, biblically based and accurate in its teachings of the Bible and genuine Christian faith.

With so many charlatans and heretical/apostate ministries (as well as false and dangerous religions!) creeping up here in the United States (as well as around the world), it is vitally important to be able to discern truth from error during this time of great upheaval, spewing of lies, acts of evil, and great deception being presented as “truth.”

Reading and studying the Bible, learning about Jesus Christ and how his apostles spread the Gospel in the Book of Acts will be essential in your walk with the Lord!

Yesterday, I found the Tyndale publishing website that describes Dr. David Jeremiah’s upcoming book on this series, which will be released in April, 2015.

Description from Tyndale:

When Pontius Pilate ordered the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, he thought he was putting an end to the Jewish uprising that had been threatening the authority of the Roman Empire. What Pilate didn’t realize, however, was that real revolution was just getting started.

Based on the epic NBC television series, The Revolution that Changed the World is a sweeping Biblical narrative that brings the political intrigue, religious persecution, and emotional turmoil of the Book of Acts to life in stunning, vibrant detail. Beginning with the crucifixion, NYT best-selling author and Bible teacher Dr. David Jeremiah chronicles the tumultuous struggles of Christ’s disciples following the Resurrection. From the brutal stoning of Stephen and Saul’s radical conversion, through the unyielding persecution of Peter and the relentless wrath of Pilate, Jeremiah paints a magnificent portrait of the political and religious upheaval that led to the formation of the early Church.

Complete with helpful background information about the characters, culture, and traditions included in the television series, A.D. The Revolution That Changed the World is not only a riveting, action-packed read, it is also an illuminating exploration of one of the most significant chapters in world history.

Get ready to watch history unfold. The Revolution That Changed the World has begun!

I can’t wait!

My plan is to write a blog post about this series each Monday morning, starting with April 5, 2015!

As I read today’s Turning Point devotional (below), it became crystal clear as to why Jesus called his disciples (as well as every born-again Christian throughout history) to go into all the world and preach the Gospel of salvation.

1. The two Marys came to the tomb. 2. There was a great earthquake, and an angel descended from heaven 3. The guards shook with so much fear that they became like “dead men.” 4. The angel said to the women: a. Do not be afraid. b. I know you seek Jesus who was crucified c. He is not here, for He is risen d. Come, see the place where the Lord lay e. And go quickly and tell His disciples that He is risen from the dead, f. Indeed He is going before you into Galilee g. there you will see Him h. Behold, I have told you

The two Marys quickly left to tell the disciples what had happened. They had “fear and great joy!” The term “fear” in that verse means, according to Strong’s Concordance of the Greek:

In their minds, these women went from one emotion (fear) to the opposite emotion of great joy!

In fact, they were rewarded with actually seeing the Risen Christ first!

Mat 28:9

And as they went to tell His disciples, [fn] behold, Jesus met them, saying, “Rejoice!” So they came and held Him by the feet and worshiped Him.

Mat 28:10

Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid. Go and tell My brethren to go to Galilee, and there they will see Me.”

What a contrast from the reaction of the guards who had so much fear that they became like “dead men.” What was going on in the guards’ minds? Probably how they were going to tell the chief priests, who had told them to keep watch at the tomb. Did they fear what might be done to them for failing to carry out that order? Later in Matthew 28, we find out.

Mat 28:11

Now while they were going, behold, some of the guard came into the city and reported to the chief priests all the things that had happened.

Mat 28:12 When they had assembled with the elders and consulted together, they gave a large sum of money to the soldiers,

Mat 28:13

saying, “Tell them, ‘His disciples came at night and stole Him away while we slept.’

Mat 28:14

“And if this comes to the governor’s ears, we will appease him and make you secure.”

Mat 28:15

So they took the money and did as they were instructed; and this saying is commonly reported among the Jews until this day.

We see that a lie was concocted by the chief priests were done in order to appease the governor and make the guards secure. The same lie “is commonly reported among the Jews until this day.”

HT for graphic: i2.wp.com

Matthew tells of the reactions of the disciples.

Mat 28:16

Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had appointed for them.

Mat 28:17

When they saw Him, they worshiped Him; but some doubted.

Even amongst those who saw the risen Christ and “worshipped Him;” there were “some [who] doubted!” That is an honest admission by the Word of God, showing us that even amongst those who might profess to believe in Jesus, there will be those who choose to doubt! That is a crisis of faith – and we see it very plainly in today’s world.

Heb 11:6

But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.

Read the entire chapter of Hebrews 11 and notice how throughout biblical history, believers in the God of the Bible did what they did by faith! Hebrews 11 also described the longsuffering that many of faith in Yahweh, (who were looking forward to the arrival of the coming Messiah), and then also those in the New Testament who had faith in Jesus Christ, had to endure.

No matter what Christians have to endure here in this fallen world, we have the joy of salvation and look forward to getting through “the race” that is put before us because “the author and finisher of our faith resides at the right hand of the throne of God!”

Heb 12:1

Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,

Heb 12:2

looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Dr. Jeremiah’s devotion for today explains that all have the same need for Jesus Christ; and that include the rich or poor, the famous or common, the weak or powerful.

Same Need, Same Call

And as [Jesus] walked by the Sea of Galilee, He saw Simon and Andrew his brother casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. Then Jesus said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you become fishers of men.” Mark 1:16-17

“Brother Dave Gardner,” a stand-up comedian active in the 1960s, had a favorite saying: “God must have really loved the common people because He made so many of them!” Conversely, it was mostly common people who were attracted to Jesus during His ministry. He even called twelve common men to be His first disciples.

God loves the poor and powerful alike, of course. But sometimes wealth and power can insulate man from seeing his need for God’s love. That’s why Jesus said He came not to call the healthy and wealthy, but the sin-sick souls who recognized their need for salvation (Mark 2:17). Jesus demonstrated and taught that the kingdom of God is not based on rank or class but on spiritual willingness to embrace God’s presence. Jesus ministered to everyone, poor and powerful alike, but it was crowds of common folk who followed Him, not crowds of the wealthy.

Don’t let poverty or wealth, averageness or exceptionality, keep you from Jesus (Proverbs 30:7-9). His call goes to each one alike, as all have the same need.

The two great tests of character are wealth and poverty.

Unknown

*******

Christ identified himself in the Synagogue, as recorded in Luke:

Luk 4:18

“The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me, Because He has anointed Me To preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, [fn] To proclaim liberty to the captives And recovery of sight to the blind, To set at liberty those who are oppressed;

Luk 4:19

To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD.” [fn]

Luk 4:20

Then He closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all who were in the synagogue were fixed on Him.

Luk 4:21

And He began to say to them, “Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”

Christ’s instructions to us:

Jesus said:

Mat 28:19

“Go therefore [fn] and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,

Mat 28:20

“teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen. [fn]

There are many wonderful Bible verses that speak of Jesus Christ and His birth on earth (the Incarnation). With so many favorites, it is difficult to just choose a few for this post.

I must start with Isaiah’s prophecy about the coming Messiah, which was written in the Old Testament hundreds of years before Christ’s birth in Bethlehem.

Isa 9:6

For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

What is so fascinating is the fact that Isaiah also writes of Christ’s return in the very next verse!

Isa 9:7

Of the increase of His government and peace There will be no end, Upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, To order it and establish it with judgment and justice From that time forward, even forever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.

Isaiah was talking about what Christ’s rule will be like during the Millennium!

The next verse, from the New Testament describes the fact that the Word of God became flesh in Christ Jesus! The Bible is often described as The Word of God. Jesus is often described as The Living Word. Note how John describes Him:

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. – John 1:14

Grace and Truth. That is who Jesus is for all who put their faith and trust in Him!

In an upcoming devotional [for Monday, December 22, 2014], Dr. David Jeremiah describes how Jesus fulfilled the will of His Father and how He trusted in God’s will for His life.

HT: emily1.com

A man-on-the-street poll to determine the most important event in world History would reveal a variety of answers. But for Christians, the answer is clear: the coming of God to earth. To consider the importance of that event is to invite wonder and awe. And there is no shortage of ways to consider its importance for us.

For example, Christ lived in complete dependence on His Father and trusted in God’s will for His life (John 4:34, 5:30; 6:38; 8:28, 42). And even though He was tempted (Matthew 4:1-11) and at times suffered (Hebrews 5:8), He never questioned His experiences; He was always confident that the Father’s will for His life was perfect and His to obey. Christ proceeded from the Godhead to earth, bringing the will of God with Him. He was the will of God–and He never faltered. Now, the apostle Paul says, all who believe in Christ are in Him (Colossians 2:9-10). Therefore, as Christ fulfilled, and continues to fulfill, the will of God, so do we who live in Him by faith.

If you are a Christian, trust today that, in Christ, your life is secure in the purposes and plans of God.

So beautiful!

Scriptures included in the devotional:

Jhn 4:34

Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work.

Jhn 5:30

“I can of Myself do nothing. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is righteous, because I do not seek My own will but the will of the Father who sent Me.

Jhn 6:38

“For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.

Jhn 8:28

Then Jesus said to them, “When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He, and that I do nothing of Myself; but as My Father taught Me, I speak these things.

Jhn 8:42

Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and came from God; nor have I come of Myself, but He sent Me.

Mat 4:1

Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.

Mat 4:2

And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterward He was hungry.

Mat 4:3

Now when the tempter came to Him, he said, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.”

Mat 4:4

But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’ ” [fn]

Mat 4:5

Then the devil took Him up into the holy city, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple,

Mat 4:6

and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down. For it is written:

‘He shall give His angels charge over you,’
and,

‘In their hands they shall bear you up,
Lest you dash your foot against a stone.’ ” [fn]

Mat 4:7

Jesus said to him, “It is written again, ‘You shall not tempt the LORD your God.’ ” [fn]

Mat 4:8

Again, the devil took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory.

Mat 4:9

And he said to Him, “All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me.”

Mat 4:10

Then Jesus said to him, “Away with you, [fn] Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the LORD your God, and Him only you shall serve.’ ” [fn]

Mat 4:11

Then the devil left Him, and behold, angels came and ministered to Him.

Heb 5:8

though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered.

Heb 5:9

And having been perfected, He became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him,

Col 2:9

For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily;

Col 2:10

and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power.

The Bible

Click on image for Blue Letter Bible

Proverbs 2:2-5

"Make your ear attentive to wisdom, incline your heart to understanding; for if you cry for discernment, lift your voice for understanding; if you seek her as silver, and search for her as for hidden treasures; then you will discern the fear of the LORD, and discover the knowledge of God"

About Christinewjc and this Talk Wisdom blog.

Married for 31 years to my wonderful husband! Two grown adult children and a son-in-law in whom we treasure and enjoy life.

Our family is very close and love to spend time with each other. We share a deep Christian faith, love for the Lord Jesus Christ and love for each other.

I earned a BA in education from Kean University in 1978. I have been studying the Bible for over 22 years and in 2003, upon successful completion of the course of study offered in the MA Lecture Series, earned a Christian Apologetics Certificate from Biola University.

This blog is named "Talk Wisdom" because one of the main purposes of writing here is to share the wisdom of God - the only absolute and true wisdom - that is contained within the Scriptures of the Bible. As a born-again Christian, it is my desire to heed and share Paul's encouragement and warnings in 2 Timothy 3:1-17

2 Timothy 3:16 - All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness,
2 Timothy 3:17 - that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.

Talk Wisdom's goal is to defend the tenets and values of Biblical Christian faith. We defend our Constitutional Republic and Charters of Freedom, especially when speaking out against destructive social and political issues. As followers of our Savior and Lord, we should boldly stand up for Jesus Christ in our present circumstances. He is our Savior, Lord, and King, and His love needs to be shed abroad in our hearts and in our world – now.

A quote to remember!

“We are to be obedient to God and that means we are to fight against sin. Talking about not judging and loving each other does not absolve us from our duty to correct and — if necessary — censure those who refuse to obey God’s laws. If this were the case, then God would have had no reason to even give us a law: He would have just said do not judge, just love and left it at that — but He did not do this. Instead, He told us to obey, and then gave us at least ten commands. If we love each other — Biblical love — then we will do everything we can to help each other keep those commands, not make it easier to break them. After all, how can we claim to love someone if we are in the process of making their path to hell easier to travel?”
~ Black3Actual from Oil For Your Lamp blog

Talk Wisdom's goal is to defend the tenets and values of Biblical Christian faith. We defend our Constitutional Republic and Charters of Freedom, especially when speaking out against destructive social and political issues. As followers of our Savior and Lord, we should boldly stand up for Jesus Christ in our present circumstances. He is our Savior, Lord, and King, and His love needs to be shed abroad in our hearts and in our world - now.

Faith in Jesus Christ is our response to God's elective purpose in our life. These two truths--God's initiative and man's response--co-exist throughout the Bible. The gospel is "the message of truth" because truth is its predominant characteristic. Salvation was conceived by the God of truth (Ps. 31:5); purchased by the Son, who is the truth (John 14:6); and is applied by the Spirit of truth (John 16:13). To know it is to know the truth that sets men free (John 8:32). Believers are people of the truth (John 18:37), who worship God in spirit and in truth (John 4:24), and who obey the Word of truth (John 17:17). People have rejected, neglected, redefined, and opposed God’s truth for centuries. Some cynically deny that truth even exists or that it can be known by men (John 18:38). Others foolishly think that denying truth will somehow make it go away. Truth determines the validity of one's belief. Believing a lie doesn't make it true. Conversely, failing to believe the truth doesn't make it a lie. The gospel is true because Jesus is true, not simply because Christians believe in Him. His resurrection proved the truth of His claims and constitutes the objective basis of our faith (Rom. 1:4; 1 Pet. 1:3). Truth is our protection and strength (Eph. 6:14). Throughout history, people have tried everything imaginable to gain favor with God. Most turn to religion, but religion apart from Christ is merely a satanic counterfeit of the truth. At the heart of every false religion is the notion that man can come to God by any means he chooses--by meditating, doing good deeds, and so on. But Scripture says, "There is no other name under heaven that has been given among men, by which we must be saved" (Acts 4:12). That name is Jesus Christ, and we come to Him by confessing and repenting of our sin, trusting in His atoning death on the cross, and affirming His bodily resurrection from the grave (cf. Rom. 10:9-10). There is no other way to God. False religious leaders and teachers talk much about God’s love, but not His wrath and holiness; much about how deprived of good things people are, but not about their depravity; much about God’s universal fatherhood toward everyone, but not much about his unique fatherhood toward all who believe in His Son; much about what God wants to give to us, but nothing about the necessity of obedience to Him; much about health and happiness, but nothing about holiness and sacrifice. Their message is full of gaps, the greatest of which leaves out a biblical worldview of the saving gospel and replaces it with the worldview of postmodernism with its dominant ethical system of relativism. The Bible describes mankind in the end times: “always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth” (2 Tim. 3:7). Spiritual answers cannot be deduced by human reason alone (1 Cor. 2:14). It’s not that spiritual truth is irrational or illogical, but that human wisdom is defective, because it’s tainted by man’s sinfulness, and unable to perceive the things of God. That is why the Bible is so important. It gives us the answers we can’t find on our own. It is God’s Word to mankind. Scripture is divinely revealed truth that fills the vacuum of spiritual ignorance in all of us. Post-truth is the word of the year for 2016 and also the philosophy of the day, According to the dictionary, “post-truth” means, “relating to or denoting circumstances in which objective facts are less influential in shaping public opinion than appeals to emotion and personal belief.” Simply put, we now live in a culture that seems to value experience and emotion more than truth. In a “post-truth” world, people make choices based on emotion and experience rather than objective fact. So in a post-truth world, truth is irrelevant. What exactly is a post-truth culture? It’s a culture where truth is no longer an objective reality. It has become subjective. It’s what’s true for me—my beliefs, my opinions, determine my truth. So in our post-truth culture, man determines truth. Man makes himself the ultimate authority. This starting point, which rejects God’s Word and the idea of moral absolutes, makes truth subjective. Truth will never go away no matter how hard one might wish. Christianity is grounded in objective truth. “And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (John 8:32). Objective truth exists because we have God’s Word. In the Gospel of John, Jesus says, “Sanctify them by Your truth. Thy word is truth” (John 17:17), and Paul and James describe the Bible as “the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15; James 1:18). The Psalmist says, “The entirety of your word is truth” (Psalm 119:160). Jesus Himself said, “For this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice” (John 18:37). When Jesus said, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father except by me” (John 14:6), He wasn’t expressing His personal belief or opinion. He was speaking the truth, a fundamental reality that doesn’t change from person to person. It doesn’t matter if our culture thinks all roads lead to God. The truth of the matter is “no one comes to the Father but by [Jesus].” This blogs goal is to, in some small way, put a plug in the broken dam of truth and save as many as possible from the consequences—temporal and eternal. "The further a society drifts from truth, the more it will hate those who speak it." - George Orwell

"Our threat is from the insidious forces working from within which have already so drastically altered the character of our free institutions — those institutions we proudly called the American way of life. " -- Gen. Douglas MacArthur